


uppercut upswing

by coffeesnack



Series: the multi-manned stasis party in- peacetime? (barney stasis au) [1]
Category: Half-Life
Genre: Bittersweet, Established Relationship, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Inspired by Poetry, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Not Canon Compliant, Sexual References, Shotgunning, barney's in stasis for a bit as well but has a chance to adjust, in a way? i tend to write disjointed like that so it's like half poetry half prose, just want more hope for them lol, v small though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25423873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeesnack/pseuds/coffeesnack
Summary: rose tinted, like the exposed insulation patched up in the room next. leaves you to rest in mine
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman
Series: the multi-manned stasis party in- peacetime? (barney stasis au) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853671
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	uppercut upswing

his stomach’s far too sour for drinks these days: stasis poisoning, a new waking sickness, age?, disorientation from all the, all the lights- screens broadcasting men that never sleep

a “scientist:” a liar and thief, and the man cutting in between his face  
neat lines of men sharing his own, masked skin, and ultimately his fate.  
electrifying his own fingers, the stripes of the up veins, sometimes on purpose

but it’s that first beer he only drinks the neck of, filling his mouth with it to do his best to spit it into the other’s mouth, ending up dribbling it down both of their necks to hurry the kiss

there are flickers in his vision, a nose pressed hard into a sinus spot, making that cheek go numb- likewise he thinks, crushing his own cartilage to force his tongue all the way in, to prod those shattered back teeth

there’s a tatted line of attempts-at-stars between two skinned-white stretch marks  
it bleeds out in the middle, where gordon had stuck the needle in too far- a particularly precise feeling barney would like to return to, to feel that needle go in and in and in

the past beckons him back to bed more often than he’d like to admit, to sleep and handfuck those memories back into place

but it has nothing on this.

despite the basement must, the stiff, undone bedsprings and crate furniture. the stunstick singed flesh smell so far up his nostrils his brain supplies it off-hours

he could overthink giving anything for their old, armless, dorm couch, pushed to the windowsill to avoid it rocking against the rooms bracketing theirs. 

calling out of work more than ever, false promises to take an early vacation and extend it by a week, kissing whichever palm not occupied with the phone

but there are firm thumbs just on his hip bones, rubbed hard over those muscle lines sloping down to his groin,  
the eyes that stare back still crying bright, like the uncovered bulb in the room is the sun on their wedding day- god.

nothing quite like this.

**Author's Note:**

> i am fucking TIRED but i was set on starting and finishing this this morning i guess. will have to recheck for errors after a nap/sleep. 
> 
> also twitter Specifically hasn't gotten back to me abt wrongly suspending my account so i'm just gonna go ahead and remake it i think. granted i was reorganizing anyways but like idk. it still sucks to have to restart that too
> 
> BUT i'd still appreciate it if you checked out my content @ linktr.ee/teaflora (including the broken twitter link once i fix some things and update it!)


End file.
